Project O Update

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Details on the life simulation.

By IGN Staff

Project O is one of the headliners in this week's Famitsu, once again through a two-page interview filled with lots of words and no screenshots. This time around, the magazine got commentary from game designer Norikazu Yasunaga and programming director Yoichi Kawaguchi.

Yasunaga described the game's "life simulation" component, which shares some similarities to his previous project, World Neverland. In Project O, NPC characters move according to AI routines, following their own schedules, making friends, and appearing to carry about their lives. Yasunaga is working on this area of the game with a programmer, and is currently considering the details of the various life patterns.

The life simulation has three parts to it. NPC characters will have their own life, doing things like going to work and coming home to sleep. They'll have reactions to other characters, saluting their superior officers during encounters, for instance.

The third area is memory. Each NPC character will retain a record of things that happened in the past. Yasunaga gave the example of characters walking down a street that they used to traverse with a girlfriend who has died. The NPCs will also remember things that happened during gameplay. For instance, if a character kills a monster, he'll boast about it in town.

Characters will have their own set of AI rules. Unlike World Neverland where, according to Yasunaga, 120 people behaved according to the same AI, Project O's characters behave in accordance with their professions. The game will have scores of different AI routines.

As discussed in previous interviews, in addition to this life simulation area, the game will also feature a growing city. Your city might actually start off as a village, growing in scale as the game progresses. The developers are hoping that players will boast about the state of their town to their friends.

Despite all the talk of the life simulation and town growth, Kawaguchi closed off the interview with the revelation that the main game is something different. This mysterious area is where the player's direct action will come into play.

Specifics will be detailed at the Tokyo Game Show. We're hopeful that actual screenshots will follow.